I'm a junior now............... tell me how I am doing!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi-I am going to be a junior now and I wanted to know if I am on the right track for an okay college/university. I think I posted somewhere around here when I was a sophmore about my chances. Some things have changed and some haven't but here it goes (be as harsh as you want)</p>

<p>Midwest, I go to a private school (before I described it as uncomptive but now I realize it is a comptive school with 100% of students going to college, a regular class equaling the highest honor at the most comptive public school in the state, and it is affilated with a great university.)
PSAT:196
PLAN;21
Rank: My school does not give out ranking, I have 50 students in my grade but as our coursework gets tougher more and more kids drop out to go public. Graduating senior class was only 35 students (I think)
GPA: I am not really sure, our GPA is given to us by the school in the middle of the junior year. it is a really werid way of doing it. It also doesn't help that my school is switching from trimesters to semesters this year. Here are my classes and the following grades.</p>

<p>Freshman year
Algebra 1: c+(sucks I know)
Reginal Geography and History:(required class) A
Art 1(year long) A
Spanish II(skipped a level) B-(not good)
Biology 15:molecular approach: A-
Freshman Seminar:(required) A
English 9: B</p>

<p>Sophmore year
Geometrey: B- :)
AP European History; A-
English 10: A-
Chemistry: B+
Spanish III: B
Digital Publishing: A
Painting: A</p>

<p>I know my grades are kinda bad and so are my test scores-I think i may have test anxiety because despite the fact i love history and writing i will be reciving a low grade on the AP Euro Test I totally blanked out.
I hope during the year I can save up some money to maybe go to Sylvan or another center to help me with my math and diagnose my test anxiety.</p>

<p>Work experience: During this year I worked as a waitress and as a babysitter. My dad now has a job so I am going to stop being a waitress and just be a babysitter to pay for my school books and MUNs.</p>

<p>ECs</p>

<p>Girl Scouts
-I have been a girl scout since I was a daisy(since I was 5yrs)
-I have gone through and passed all the levels and now am a senior girl scout.
-earned my silver award and silver leadership award.
- currently I am working on my Gold Award, I have finished all the pre-awards and steps. By the end of my junior year I will have earned it.
-Have earned the following awards
-Gold Leadership award(I organinized a thinking day event for it that lasted all day and was attended by all the troops in my service unit)
-Gold Career Exploration Award
-Gold Studio 2B award</p>

<p>Tennis
-9th grade JV
-10th grade JV
-11th grade JV/V-not sure yet
-12th grade-Hope to be on Varsity</p>

<p>Model United Nations
-9th grade: attended Northwestern MUN and St.Ignatious MUN
-10th grade: attended University of Virginia MUN and National High School MUN.
-At the end of tenth grade I was elected for my junior year to be the under-secretary of Public relations for our MUN club.
-I won also best position paper and resarch for University of Virginia MUN</p>

<p>Prosody(Literay magazine)
-9th grade-on staff and had an art piece selected
-10th grade-editior and had several pieces of art selected
-11th and 12th grade I will probably be the editor as before</p>

<p>Community Service Club
-since I was a freshman I have been apart of this club and I have lead several drives, been on the Hurricane Katrina committe which raised over 6,000 in aid. Also with other members of the club put on a concert for the tsuami reilef.
-have done 70 hours of community service through this club(over the summer i am doing a ton of community service on my own.)
-I will continue to be apart of this club for the next two yrs(there are no leadership positions it is more of volunteer and do something kind of club) </p>

<p>Art
-work has been published in Prosody(others chose my work)
-invited to be apart of school's art show this year. Art was featured work.</p>

<p>Plays ( I only do the spring shakspeare plays-i love shakspeare but not a great actress)
-9th grade: singing fairy attendant of the Queen Titania
-10th grade: Friar John(had 13 lines !!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I will continuebe apart of shakspeare plays in 11th and 12th grade.</p>

<p>I think that is all my ECs, my school does not give out any awards nor has NHS because even though it is a good school it tries to have a noncomptive atmosphere.
Oh i almost forgot summer experiences!(sorry so long)</p>

<p>2005 Summer
My grandfather had died recently so I decided to stay home.
I stayed home and helped my grandmother at her house my pulling weeds, planting tomatoes, cutting the grass, and trimmimg bushes.</p>

<p>2006 summer
I did'nt have much money so I am staying home again.
I am babysitting to earn money but also I am doing some community service.
like this LEAP program which combines leadership training, social actvism and community service.
Also I am through my local volunteer center expanding a community service program for little kids called Little hands and Big hearts.
I am starting to self study AP world and AP Enviro.</p>

<p>Again sorry so long but i wanted to make a quick list of colleges i am looking into<br>
Banard(I know I already have no chance)
Hendriex College
Hiram College
Wittenberg University
University of Evansville
New College of Florida
Hampshire
Evergreen State college
I am intrested in either making up my own major or majoring in history/Classical studies.
Please give me any feedback/suggestions!
Future Thanks</p>

2

<p>bump.................................................</p>

3

<p>If you can prove you have a disorder, you're in. Actually, you DESERVE to go wherever you want.</p>

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<p>Ummm^^^100% not true..having a disorder does not mean he deserves nor can get into whatever school they want.</p>

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<p>I am not sure if I have a disorder. i was just saying that maybe I needed some help and in taking tests like the SATS. The Sylvan center near my house I thought would be good.
I have to agree with Green Day fan if I do have a disorder I do not deserve to go anywhere. If i do I should not go to college at all-going to college then would be a waste of money.
Does anyone have anything else to say if I am on the right way to any of the colleges i listed or anywhere I could improve.
Greendayfan-I am a girl :)</p>

6

<p>i like how you call the poster "he" when she was in girl scouts. ;)</p>

7

<p>Oh i forgot here is my course list for junior year</p>

<p>AP US history
Spanish 4
Algebra 2
Human Evolution
Astronomy
Drawing
English 11
Independent Study in Fairy Tales and FolkLore</p>

<p>Please can some one give me some advice/ criticism.
I started to talk to my counslar and she is not very knowgebale at all. Do I have a chance at all anywhere.
Thanks.</p>

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<p>bump.............................................</p>

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<p>have you thought about bard? its a little easier to get to than barnard, but has top notch academics in a similar atmosphere of a hampshire, New College of Florida, or a Evergreen State college</p>

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<p>
[quote]
if I do have a disorder I do not deserve to go anywhere. If i do I should not go to college at all-going to college then would be a waste of money.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Where do you come up with that? If you do have a disorder, get some help, go to whatever school you want to go to that accepts you, work exceptionally hard in a major your enjoy, graduate and get a good job. </p>

<p>You did OK on your PSAT. Your PLAN is low, but hey, colleges won't see your PSAT or your PLAN score. Take the SAT (multiple times if need be), and in order to alleviate test anxiety, work on preparing yourself and familiarizing yourself with the format of the test. Then, don't think that if you do bad it will ruin your future - that's just not true! There are plenty of great schools which are SAT optional!</p>

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<p>huskem55-I have thought of Bard actually-one of my senior friends is going to Bard. i always got the impression though that Bard was for more artistic and creative writing kind of student. I am good at art to a certain degree( I love anime/manga so I tend to draw in that kind of style)but not college level good.</p>

<p>NathanTXO7- You are right i guess that comment I said was kind of harsh. I just was not in a good mood when I wrote it. I look around this site and i just realize how marginal I am. I realize what a embaressment I must be to my parents. I used to be so smart when I was younger-I actually used to be a year above my grade level in math and won tons of awards. Then just one day I could'nt understand it and started tanking on the state standaried tests. it got so bad that I was actually put into all learning disabled classes in middle school. But still that did not help me at all for we all know the first department in a public school that gets cut money is the LD classes.And anyway I may be slow in math but not in other fields, it was like slowly dieing on the inside. i studied on my own and was finally allowed back in the regular classes. I was even able to make into a good private school on a scholarship.</p>

<p>But still, if something is wrong with me I would'nt be able to tell my parents. they both came from families that lived below the poverty level and on their own by their smarts were the first in their families to graduate high school and go to college, eventually earning their masters. Even if I was able to tell them i don't think I could just turn around and ask them to help me to with college. they would not think i deserved it.
(sorry this a long response) Anyway I just hate the concept of standerdized tests. i rather learn for its own sake, my test scores make me look rather stupid but honestly if you wanted some one to dissect Jacques david's art work and explain the effects it had on the people of France during the French Revolution i would be your girl but colleges don't get to see that I guess.</p>

<p>I thought my 21 on the PlAN was really good-93% percentile overall and I felt less stress during that test but oh well. Also, to get a better understanding of my pSAT score here is the breakdown scores
CR:80, Writing/mechanics:74 Math: 32
Pretty sad?
In general:
Besides my test scores, if a miracle happens and I am able to get all
A's (a more realistically all a's and one B in math) will it help me at all? Also are my ECs at all well developed and how is my course load(it would be harder but my counslar and advisor would not let me do AP Biology even though I was invited and accepted.
Thanks for all the responses!</p>

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<p>The only think of which I must inquire is the Math PSAT scaled score of 32...it shows in your grades, since the SAT tests Geometry and Algebra I (and a small piece of Algebra II).
It seems that your strengths are overwhelmingly in the humanities and as such you should go to the artistic schools; this does not necessarily mean that the school is only for painters or sculptors.</p>

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<p>dont have to be an artist to go to bard- just 'artsy' meaning liberal</p>

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<p>Indeed, your PLAN isn't low, I don't know what I was looking at when I typed that. My bad. </p>

<p>
[quote]
I actually used to be a year above my grade level in math and won tons of awards. Then just one day I could'nt understand it and started tanking on the state standaried tests. it got so bad that I was actually put into all learning disabled classes in middle school.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It sounds to me that at a critical juncture (perhaps 4th, 5th grade), you had a math teacher who you really had a personality clash with. I'm not saying you hated her or anything, but you just learn one way, and she taught another, and you and her were really not compatible. The LD classes probably did you a disservice, as you were not able to recover whatever basic skills you were missing. I'd recommend a math tutor to identify your weaknesses and reteach (and this will take some dedication on your part). If you truly have a disability that prevents you from learning the material, they will diagnose it and that isn't the end of the world. It will be a new beginning.</p>

<p>
[quote]
But still, if something is wrong with me I would'nt be able to tell my parents. they both came from families that lived below the poverty level and on their own by their smarts were the first in their families to graduate high school and go to college, eventually earning their masters. Even if I was able to tell them i don't think I could just turn around and ask them to help me to with college. they would not think i deserved it.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You don't have to have your parents' help putting yourself through college if there is something wrong. Appeal to the colleges to let you in. Look into SAT-optional schools (<a href="http://www.fairtest.org/optstate.html)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fairtest.org/optstate.html)&lt;/a>. Find scholarships for people who excel at writing (there are a lot out there - <a href="http://www.fastweb.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fastweb.com&lt;/a> is a good place to start looking). But if there is something wrong, tell your parents. You would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't. What's the worst they are going to tell you, "I'm sorry, I can't do anything for you." If you don't tell them they can't do anything for you either. I'm sure your parents truly care for your wellbeing and would love to see you thrive.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Anyway I just hate the concept of standerdized tests. i rather learn for its own sake, my test scores make me look rather stupid but honestly if you wanted some one to dissect Jacques david's art work and explain the effects it had on the people of France during the French Revolution i would be your girl but colleges don't get to see that I guess.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I hear you. Maybe I'm not the best person to relate to on this (I usually do well on standardized tests), but I don't like the concept, from the SAT all the way down to state tests. I read Locke, Voltaire, and Machiavelli just to see different viewpoints. I could sit down and write a discourse on the concepts and effects of major philosophies, but the SAT won't tell colleges that. </p>

<p>
[quote]
I thought my 21 on the PlAN was really good-93% percentile overall and I felt less stress during that test but oh well.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Take the ACT. If you feel less stress on that test, take the ACT. </p>

<p>
[quote]
CR:80, Writing/mechanics:74 Math: 32
Pretty sad?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You have such a strong base in reading and writing. Don't worry about the liberal arts at all. Get help on your math - you will need to take math in college.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Besides my test scores, if a miracle happens and I am able to get all
A's (a more realistically all a's and one B in math) will it help me at all?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes. Upward trend always looks good. Your ECs look good. Course load is ok.</p>

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<p>nathanTXo7-oh gosh thank you so much for your advice! I already feel less stressed about the tests. I tried earliar to get a tutor for math but it cost too much for me-70 bucks per hour. But mext year i will be having a great math teacher-she is tough but really understanding. I am going to ask her for help for sure. Also before summer I will try to review some Algabra 1 (had a horrible teacher freshman yr). if I am still having trouble I will try to get tested for a learning disablity.</p>

<p>I feel confident in my Ecs, I am not a superstar but I think I do well in them and more importantly I love them!!!!!!!! Also with my grades I can see an upward slope-somewhat from freshman to sophmore year.</p>

<p>The only small worry is my course load. My school does not offer any honors courses-and ten APs mostly in the math and the science which i cannot take. We also have to be invited for AP classes. I know that I could have taken a more tougher courseload because I was invited into AP Bio. my counslar and advisor said I should'nt take it-wait till senior year.
the only two options are semester courses or physics. because of my math skills I cannot handel physics so I took semesters instead. Semesters look bad but not as bad as taking no science.
I believe my independent study will be a saving grace though because I planned it out-it will be graded not just pass/fail. I will ahve to write around six papers for it and then a satire of fairy tales. If one of my papers was really good I was going to send it as a supplement material to a college.
I really want to take this year a little bit easiar for it is the hardest year at my school. Most junior last year were failing at least one subject-so I am very scared.
Also I live an hour to 45 mins away from my school-my life depends on the train and usually I don't get home till very late and I have to go to bed at 10:00 so I can wake up at 5:00 to get on the train and go to school.
Also I am self studying two APs-I thought this may help make up also for a poor course load.
I am also working on my gold award project which will at least take up 60 hous of my time. There are also a few projects I am working on my own-I am going to try for the Congressional Bronze award(already have started making goals and have an advisor) and doing more volunteer work.
Here is my senior schedule predicted-I think it is much more intense and I can only do it if I have good grades this year so I can be invited
AP Spanish 5
AP English
AP Bio
AP Stat-i don't know ?
Studio art-highest art class like a independent study
ceramics-just for fun
International relations (no year long history courses senior year)
Independent STudy in Eastern European history-will be graded
self study AP art History.</p>

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<p>It sounds like you are on the right track to becoming more comfortable with your math. </p>

<p>The fact that you love your ECs is more important than how good the organizations look to colleges. When you love them you become more involved in them and colleges love to see that. They can tell when you love them. </p>

<p>As far as your course load, I think you are on a good track with the conditions that you described at your school. Colleges will get a profile from your school detailing this when you apply.</p>

<p>As far as living far away from your school, I know that is stressful. I drive 30 minutes each way to school and I know that it takes up time that you could be doing homework, ECs, etc. This could also be used to justify to colleges why you aren't taking the hardest courses - commute time does take away from the time you can use to study. </p>

<p>What APs are you self studying? Good luck with them. If you do well, colleges will see that you are a self starter and that you truly love learning. </p>

<p>Good luck with gold award and the Congressional Bronze award - they will look good to colleges. Only do volunteer work if you want to. Don't do it just because colleges like it. </p>

<p>Your senior schedule, as it stands right now, looks very rigorous. Good luck this year and next. </p>

<p>If you have any questions in math, PM me. I can help.</p>

17

<p>I am self studying Enviromental studies and World History. </p>

<p>My best friend at the local public high school took World History last year so she gave me her textbook and prep book. During the year she is going to try to help me and I in turn will help her self study European History
I really lile volunter work actually I know some people like it for resume padding but I like giving back to community. I probably won't be able to do much but my personal goal this year is try to steer the community servce club I am a part of into doing more service instead of just raising money. Raising money to me just seems so impersonal</p>

<p>Thanx for all advice nathanTXO7-I will definetly take you up on your offer for help!</p>

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<p>Univ. of Evansville and Evergreen State are both good colleges.I live pretty close to Evergreen, and I hear nothing but good things about it.</p>

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<p>D.Ranger'Thanks for the post! Don't want to be a noisy nelly-but what kind of good things specifically do students say about Evergreen State College ex-professors that care for them ect, ect</p>

<p>Also for everyone eles on this board-please keep giving me advice I really am going to need it to survive the next two years and the college process!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>

<p>Has anyone here heard of Seawane, University of the South? they sent me a dvd and being the dork that i am I watched it. Seems really intresting-I really like the gown and the honor code traditions. However when I watched the DvD I kept thinking about Harry Potter and Hogwarts:)
Also, I am thinking about majoring in history/humanities, are there any collegee with world renownd history departments?</p>

<p>I know that the University of Evansville has a really small department-only accepts 15 kids out of each freshmen class to d it. But I like small .</p>

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<p>Misty_Rain - </p>

<p>Sewanee is an interesting place. When they say they are on top of a mountain, it's because they are. The university is the town and vice-versa (I think Sewanee actually owns the entire town). It's VERY isolated and the nearest large city (Chattanooga) is about an hour's drive. It's kindof a "bubble" environment. I could see going there for four years and upon graduating, wondering when the world changed.</p>